


Save me

by Kassandrea



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:36:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26197981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kassandrea/pseuds/Kassandrea
Summary: Eadith has managed to escape from Haesten only to find herself inmidst the battle of Winchester.
Relationships: Eadith & Finan (The Last Kingdom)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Save me

Save me

Pain.  
Pain and blackness.... that was all she could still perceive.  
As helpless as a boat tossed back and forth between the peaks of waves, she had staggered through the streets of Winchester, driven, pushed by a seemingly endless crowd of people from whom there was no escape. After she had torn herself away from Haesten, ignoring the curses he was giving her, she had tried with growing desperation to make her way through the turmoil. Uthred and his men were here, she knew it, had taken it from the angry roar of the fighting Danes – “Dane slayer!” - and where Uthred was, there were also those who had become her friends during the past days and weeks: Sithric, Osferth ... Finan.  
A hard blow to her temple made her stagger back, rowing her arms so as not to lose her balance.  
"I mustn't fall!"  
If she fell, all was lost - she would not get back on her feet, the crowd would trample her down like a bunch of cattle gone wild.  
"I mustn't fall!"  
Did she shout it? She didn't know, just knew that she was looking for support on some stranger’s body, grabbing arms that pushed her away instead of supporting her ... It was in vain, her strength was running out. The days and weeks when she had been locked in Haesten’s attic had weakened her, the lack of food and drink had worn out her slender body more than she wanted to admit...  
"Shield wall !!"  
The call suddenly came not far from her, repeated by countless hoarse voices.  
"Shield wall !!"  
She stretched to see who had called, but it was of no use. Then another strong voice picked up the call, a familiar voice that sent the rest of adrenaline pumping through her exhausted body:  
"Shield wall!"  
Uthred's voice. Just a few meters in front of her - she gathered all her strength and threw herself against the men who surrounded her ... and indeed, they backed away, a path opened and suddenly, finally, she could see something. See him - Uthred, his fist with Serpent-Breath raised in the air while the warriors gathered around him.  
She opened her mouth to scream, but what came out was just a sound of pain. Something had hit her in her belly, a fist, a stick or even a sword - impossible to tell. The pain was so sudden and intense that she collapsed - and then it was too late.  
She fell.  
Fell between a tangle of legs, weapons, boots, threw up her arms to instinctively protect her face from the kicks that inevitably came and hit her legs, her back. She wanted to scream, but her voice failed her, dust and smoke scratched her throat, so that she only managed to choke.  
“Shield wall!” A strange voice, but loud and powerful – a leader’s voice. Siggtryggr – it had to be Siggtryggr for his shout silenced the roar of the crowd, the men started to step back. “Shield wall!”  
Another hit, another wave of pain flooded her body, made her cringe.  
‘I will die here! I will never get out of here – never see my friends again – never see him again…’  
Thoughts raced through her mind, while she curled up embryo-like in the dust to protect herself as best she could. The noise around her started to fade and then the blackness came, taking her in her soft arms and dulling the pain. She gave in to it, thankful in a way. She was so tired, awfully tired…

*****

“Dear god!”  
A cry again, so close that it tore her out of the darkness. A familiar voice again, but a voice that stirred something within her. Yet she was unable to speak, let alone move.  
“Stay back!” Another shout answered, a stranger’s voice – a Dane?  
“Please…!”  
Finan.  
It was Finan’s voice.  
Hands grabbed her frantically, rolled her aching body around while she opened her eyes to look in his face, so close, so worried.  
“Come on…” Then she was in his arms, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck while he lifted her up to carry her away from the battlefield. Still she found herself in a state of confused daze, hardly noticing how the shield wall opened to let them pass through. There was just him, his strong arms holding her, the smell of smoke, sweat and leather … she breathed it in but the pain shot through her battered body with every rise of her chest. She couldn’t help but groan. The sound made him look at her with fear.  
“It’s gonna be ok – don’t worry – you’ll be alright - “ Did he mean to comfort her – or maybe himself? She couldn’t tell.  
“Finan…” A whisper was all she could manage. Exhaustion flowed over her and she let her head sink back to his shoulder, her eyes closing.  
“Eadith – please!” His voice held a spark of panic and he made no effort to conceal it. “Don’t do this to me – please - “  
He suddenly stopped and settled her somewhere, a hard underground, maybe a table, a bench or a wall, she couldn’t tell. As she sank back, she felt rough bricks on her back. A wall, right behind her.  
Then his hands touched her face, stroke her cheeks … these calloused warrior hands, so tender that it sent a spark through her inside, a little flame that made her open her eyes and stare at him in wonder.  
“Thank god, love!” Love? He didn’t seem to realize what he’d just said - but she did for sure. “Are you hurt?”  
She took a small breath, a careful one, yet it hurt again.  
“I don’t know …” Another shaky breath. “I – I can’t breathe …”  
“Wait - ,“ His hands left her face and started to fumble with her cape. Then they slipped under the fabric, touching and probing around her belly, her ribs -  
“Ouch - “  
“It’s ok,” Finan was looking at his hands. “No blood, thank god. Guess ya have some broken ribs. Hurts like hell but it’s gonna be ok in a while…” A smile flashed over his dirty and blood-splattered face. “I can tell from my own experience – so don’t worry!”  
She tried to smile back despite the pain and his eyes lit up.  
“Glad to hear that,” she replied, her voice still shaky. She felt tired and battered, yet with Finan so close to her an unexpected warmth filled her, a kind of dizziness but not like before. She wished he would touch her again the way he did when checking out her injuries. However, she asked: “What happened? Is the battle over?” It seemed to be over for the noise had stopped and not started again for a long while.  
“I dunno.” Finan shrugged his shoulders. “Guess Uthred and Siggtryggr started to talk with each other. Hopefully they will find a way to stop this bloodshed.” He turned his head and stretched in an effort to see something but as they were in a remote and quiet corner, there were few people in sight and it was impossible to tell what was going on over there in the great yard.  
“You should go and see for yourself,” she encouraged him. She didn’t want him to leave but it was obvious that he longed to get back to his warrior friends. “I’m fine.”  
“I doubt that,” he let his gaze slide over her, hesitating.  
“Finan – go and see if Uthred needs you! I will just sit here and wait – promise!”  
“Don’t go away!”  
As soon as his words were out they both shared a laugh, hers a painful one, followed by a moan.  
“God, Finan, I can hardly stand on my own two feet! Where do you think I should go?”  
Finan grinned, stretching out his hand to swipe back an unruly curl of her hair. The touch left a fiery trace on her skin and she felt her face blush like a young maiden – despite the fact that she was far from a maiden. She was Aethelred’s whore.  
The memory felt more painful than her broken ribs. She averted her eyes and said more brusquely than she had intended: “Go ahead, Finan, please. They might wonder about your absence.”  
Finan stood back from her. If her brusqueness had offended him, he didn’t show.  
“I’ll be back soon, “ he promised before he turned and started to run towards the main yard. She followed him with her eyes while she strained to listen to the mixture of voices that rang over to her. Yet it was impossible to understand what they called and so she let herself sink back against the rough wall.  
She tried to keep her breathing flat in order to avoid the flashes of pain that her ribs sent through her. Her throat felt sore and burning, made her long for water but it was useless now. She should have asked Finan for water when she’d had the chance.  
Finan…  
She wondered why she reacted the way she did – to his presence, to his touch. Being carried away in his arms had been such a confusing feeling and yet – despite the pain that was torturing her – she had never felt so safe in her life.  
He cared for her.  
That was it. Never since she lost her mother as a little girl had somebody really cared about her, worried about her wellbeing. She had always been used or rejected. Used by the men who craved for her body and rejected by the women because of her beauty and aloofness.  
Aethelred had been the worst. He had almost raped her, took her with such brutal force that her body was sore and aching afterwards. And after that night people looked at her with contempt, regarding her as Aethelred’s mistress or worse, his whore. Aethelflaed had seen her the same way, Eadith remembered her disgusted look only too well ... maybe she saw her this way still, she didn’t know. But the kids, Aelfwynn and Aethelstan had encountered her in a different way: with open affection and trust.  
And Uthred and his men had also learned to rely on her, to treat her with respect and friendliness like she was one of them. She realized that being accepted this way had been the best part of it. It had made her proud and courageous and it was the reason why she had risked her life and went to Winchester in order to spy for them. Not that it had been of any use. She had been caught and locked in by Haesten before she could find out anything. At least he had brought her food and drink and had not forced himself upon her as she had feared first.  
Now she was free again. Bruised and battered but free nevertheless.  
She closed her eyes, wondering if she should try and lie down on the bench where Finan had put her. Just as she decided to give it a try, she heard a familiar voice calling out for her.  
Finan had come back.  
“I’ve got some bandages for ya …” he said, settling down beside her. “And some water. Guess you’re thirsty with all this smoke and dust…”  
She grabbed the flask he was offering her and let the cool liquid run through her sore throat.  
“My god, thank you – I felt I would die from thirst!”  
Finan grinned.  
“Good guess – wasn’t it? But now, let’s remove this cape …”  
She helped him the best she could and then leaned against his body while he started to wrap the linen bandages around her midst. She could tell he was trying to be gentle but it hurt nevertheless and she had to grit her teeth to keep from moaning.  
“So how did you like your first battle?” he asked, obviously trying to distract her from the pain.  
She gave him an anguished smile.  
“I swear it’ll be my last. From now on, I will be staying in the tent…”  
Finan chuckled while he kept fastening the bandages above her waist.  
“You’ve shown the spirit of a true warrior,” he declared, and she noticed the pride in his voice.  
The realization brought some warmth to her inside.  
She smiled back at him.  
“Perhaps my family honor is restored…” The thought of her family let her smile turn sad. She averted her eyes and looked down at her lap. “If only those who cared for me were still here to see it.”  
Silence spread between them. She didn’t dare to look up, afraid he would see the tears filling her eyes. She was a warrior now – so he had said. She shouldn’t appear so weak.  
Finally she heard him clear his throat.  
“Your brother ...what happened to him?”  
“Siggtryggr killed him, ” she said harshly. “I was on the yard and had to watch it … They had no mercy but maybe he didn’t deserve mercy.” After all Eardwulf had done to her. Forced her to lie with Aethelred, made his own sister a whore to gain power for himself. Yet, facing his own death he still had made an effort to save her by calling her a stranger in front of Siggtryggr and Haesten. Hadn’t worked out but it was a try.  
“I’m sorry,” Finan said slowly.  
“You’re not!” she snapped, suddenly angry about his polite lie. Yet, as she looked up and met his eyes, she realized it wasn’t a lie. He was truly sorry. Not for her brother. Sorry for her.  
They looked at each other for what seemed an eternity.  
Finally she swallowed hard and felt for his hand, put hers on top of it. Their fingers linked, and she felt the caress of his thumb on the palm of her hand. It sent the most amazing feeling through her body, a mixture of heat and yearning … a feeling that dulled every pain she had felt till now. She could hardly breathe but it wasn’t because of her ribs anymore.  
God, she was so fond of him, she couldn’t deny it anymore. It scared her, yet in his eyes she found something of the same affection and it made her insides leap with a sudden joy.  
With a little sigh she bent over and allowed herself to rest her head on his shoulder. Cautiously he wrapped his arm around her and helped her to nestle against his body, grazing her temple with his lips ever so slightly.  
She was finally safe.  
And she was with him.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was my second fan fic ever - and my first one in English!  
> Hopefully, it doesn't sound too weird... but I wanted to give it a try. During Season 4 I really grew fond of Eadith, she's such a lovable and courageous woman and Finan and her would make the perfect pair!!


End file.
